Disposing of Animal Mortalities

Large Animal Mortalities

Animal deaths are a regrettable but sometimes unavoidable part
of livestock production. Once an animal dies, it is important
to handle and dispose of the carcass in a way that reduces
the potential for impacting the health of humans and other livestock
and minimizes the impact to the environment, such as pollution
of groundwater or surface water. It is recommended that dead animals
be disposed of within 48 hours of discovery in a way that follows
state guidelines.

In Tennessee, dead animal carcasses are defined as a “solid waste,” so
are regulated by the Tennessee Department of the Environment and
Conservation (TDEC), Division of Solid Waste. The disposal of dead animals
falls under the
solid waste regulations outlined by TDEC.

The methods that livestock producers in Tennessee can choose to dispose of their dead animals include:

Permits are not required for on-farm burial as long as standards set
by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) are followed.
These include making sure you follow setbacks from sources of water
(wells and surface water) and that the animal is buried more than two
feet away from bedrock or water tables. Burn permits are required
in every circumstance where they would normally be required for open
burning. Burn permits
are issued by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Division of Forestry
from October 15 through May 15.

Some local (city and county) ordinances regarding open burning may take
precedence over the Division of Forestry rules. When burning carcasses,
the materials used to burn are restricted to #1 or #2 grade fuel oils,
vegetation grown on the property or wood waste.

USDA guidelines should also be followed if you elect to compost the
carcasses. Composting usually requires creating a two-foot base of woody
by-products such as wood chips, sawdust or wood shavings, then covering
the dead animal with at least two more feet of the wood by-product.

Not all landfills in Tennessee will accept dead animals. Only Class I
landfills will accept them without written permission from TDEC.

If incineration is used, no permits are required as long as the incinerator
is only used for carcass disposal, and has a capacity not greater than
500 lbs per hour or a burner capacity less than 400,000 BTU’s per hour.

In the past, rendering companies often picked up carcasses from individual
farms; however, in recent years there has been a decline in the number
of companies offering this service. There are also strict restrictions
on the rendering of cattle under 30 months of age.

Where losses involve carcasses of more than 10,000 lb the state veterinarian
must be notified. In the cases of larger losses, landfilling, composting
and rendering may be the only viable options.

For most producers, burying, composting or landfilling will be the best
options for disposing of their dead animals.